Transgender Awareness Week seeks to promote understanding

Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to encourage transgender people and their allies to take an active role in helping educate the community about their unique experience, begins on Monday (Nov. 18) on the Tulane University uptown campus.

A film about Kate Bornstein, an American gender theorist, transsexual person and author who identifies as neither male nor female will be screened during Transgender Awareness Week starting Monday (Nov. 18) on the Tulane University uptown campus.

“We feel if people are more familiar with the trans community, they’re more likely to treat people with respect,” says Red Tremmel, director of the Office for Gender and Sexual Diversity. “Right now I think people’s familiarity is pretty low, and when people don’t understand, they’re more likely to subscribe to stereotypes. A big part of Trans Awareness Week is shifting people’s understanding.”

The week will kick off Monday evening with the Trans 101 workshop that invites Tulane students, staff and faculty members to get basic information about how to make the campus more welcoming for people who don’t fit into the “gender binary,” and also to ask any questions they may have about people who fall under the transgender umbrella.

A candlelight vigil on Wednesday (Nov. 20) to mark International Trans Day of Remembrance, where those who lost their lives to gender-based violence will be honored, will preceed a screening of a film about Kate Bornstein, an American gender theorist, transsexual person and author who identifies as neither male nor female. The screening also will feature remarks by and a Q&A with filmmaker Sam Feder.

Other film screenings throughout the week will chronicle the unique nature of the transgender community and shine a light on the issues with which non-gender-conforming people have struggled and continue to face.

“The events are meant to show the complexity and diversity of the trans community,” says Tremmel. “We’re trying to create safe spaces on campus for trans people to exist and talk about the unique experiences and the value that comes from the perspective of being trans.”

To register for the Trans 101 workshop, contact Megan Karbly. More information about Trans Week events can be found here.